It was settled for twenty centuries. At the close of that long period of time a French physician, named Peyssonnel, while traveling along the Mediterranean coast, became much interested in the coral fisheries carried on there. He examined the coral flowers with great care, and found that they were not flowers at all, but animals! The ancients had been deceived by their flower-like form, for they were unlike flowers in every other respect, having no stamens, or pistils, or pollen, and producing no seed.
But the opinions of people were not to be overturned all at once by a country doctor. Was it reasonable to suppose he should know more about this matter than all the learned men who had ever lived, or who were living then? So everybody, but Peyssonnel himself, went on believing that coral was a plant, and bore flowers; that it grew in the sea like other marine plants; and that, when broken off, and brought to the surface, it suddenly hardened into stone.
Not long, however, did they continue in this belief. Nicolai, an Inspector of coral fisheries, thought it was about time that an investigation should be made deep down in the ocean to see whether the coral there was flexible, and soft. He sent down one of his best divers, and the man brought back word that the coral was just as hard in the sea, as in the air. This was such surprising news that Nicolai went down himself to make sure of the fact. There was no doubt about it. The coral in the ocean was as hard as a stone.
CORAL.
For hundreds of years wise men had been accepting the statements of ignorant fishermen without investigation.
Further research into the subject proved Peyssonnel to be right. The little star-like ornaments on the coral branches are animals. We show here a section of a coral branch as it looks under a magnifying glass, that you may understand how easy it would be for an ordinary observer to suppose the little stars to be blossoms. You can also see the different stages of development of the very singular little coral animal. B is the ovule, or egg, from which it comes, C the larva, or young creature before it undergoes its last change, and A is the full-grown animal.
A BRANCH OF CORAL, MAGNIFIED.
Since then, the habits of these coral animals have been more carefully studied, and their ways are truly wonderful.